The “hook” of light through a gravitational lens made it possible to observe distant galaxy

Never before have scientists had the opportunity to observe the radiation of high enough energy coming from a space object located that far from us. About 7 billion years ago a tremendous explosion occurred in the vicinity of a black hole located in the center of one galaxy. This explosion was accompanied by a powerful blast of gamma radiation.

Several telescopes, including the MAGIC telescope was able to capture the light. In addition, these findings allowed once again to verify the validity of the provisions of the General theory of relativity, as the rays coming from this distant galaxy, met on the way to Earth, another galaxy, and were rejected by the influence of gravity, called gravitational lensing.

This object, called B0218 357 QSO, blazar is a special type of supermassive black holes. Currently, scientists believe that the center of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Black holes actively absorbing matter, called the active black holes. Such objects emit extremely bright jets. If these emissions are directed toward the Earth, they are called blazers.